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The mission of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is to change lives through knowledge creation and business education. To this end, an integral part of our curriculum examines the interface between business and the social environment in which it operates. In fact, for years, courses centering on the social and political environment, as well as on ethics, have been part of the MBA curriculum as standalone courses. Over the last three years, however, these topics are not only addressed in separate courses, but have been integrated across the MBA curriculum. Courses in supply chain management, marketing, management, and economics, for example, all center attention on the social, ethical and environmental issues that affect business. In addition, beginning this year, students can receive an area of emphasis in sustainability, by enrolling in a set of MBA elective courses that include Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Renewal Energy, Business Value of Sustainability, and Sustainable Supply Networks. Furthermore, MBA students can also enroll in coursework in the ASU School of Sustainability's Master of Science in sustainability degree program.
In addition to social and environmental issues woven into classroom discussions, MBA students are provided extra-curricular opportunities that further add to their skills set to be better prepared to manage the social and environmental issues they will encounter as managers in today’s global business environment. These activities include participation in seminars, workshops, and speaker events sponsored by the ASU School of Sustainability, ASU Global Institute of Sustainability, and the W. P. Carey MBA - Sustainability Club (Net Impact), in particular. The MBA Volunteer Council is embedded in the local community through the various charity events in which they participate and coordinate, such as volunteering at the local Ronald McDonald House and Junior Achievement. The MBA Entrepreneurship Club in conjunction with AZ Technology Venture, offer opportunities to MBA students to participate in activities and research related to creating new business ideas with the environment in mind.
A Thought Leadership Speaker Series connects faculty and students outside the classroom for a discussion on major issues affecting the economy and businesses. Recent topics include current economic crisis - nationally and globally, implications of the oil spill in the Gulf, health care policy, leadership and diversity.
Finally, MBA students are involved with the university’s recycling initiative through participation in the recycling of paper, water bottles, and newspapers/magazines in their classrooms and Ford Graduate Student Suite. Our MBA students were instrumental in the revitalization and re-launch of the university-wide recycling initiative.
Arizona State University takes an integrated approach to campus sustainability, impacting both how the campus operates and how students act. Some examples include:
Energy: Campus Metabolism(tm) provides an interactive web tool that enables users to examine real-time energy and water use on campus - by individual building, building type, or the entire campus.
Renewable Energy: ASU is committed to expanding solar installations across all four campuses to a total of 10 MW by the end of 2010, and 20 MW by 2020.
Recycling: Recycling efforts across ASU's four campuses have two main goals -- to increase recycling participation and to reduce contamination that can relegate an entire bin of recyclables to the landfill. With a community of more than 80,000, proper recycling can have a major impact on reducing our solid waste.
Buildings: ASU has 38 LEED-certified buildings (http://cfo.asu.edu/fdm-recently-completed-construction).
Transportation: The ASU U-Pass provides unlimited access to all four campuses and greater Phoenix on Valley Metro bus routes and the METRO light rail. U-Pass is available to students, faculty, and staff for a discounted rate.
Food Services: CSA partner Crooked Sky Farms provides fresh, local, organic produce to community members at ASU's Polytechnic and West campuses. Students, staff, faculty, and others purchase shares of high-quality, local produce, providing financial security to a local farm.
Water: ASU has reduced water consumption in many buildings around campus through the installation of low-flow water fixtures such as sinks, showers, toilets, and in some buildings, waterless urinals. On average, these efficient appliances use approximately 30 percent less water than their conventional counterparts.
Operations: Across the university, 95% of cleaning products are green certified, and in dining facilities, all cleaning products are certified by Ecolab's green seal.
Purchasing: ASU's comprehensive Green Purchasing Policy covers energy, water, toxins and pollutants, bio-based products, forest conservation, recycling, packaging, green building, and landscaping.
The extent to which this class addresses social, ethical, and environmental issues is driven for the most part by the projects conducted as part of the class. It is not unusual for one or more projects in the class to have aspects of these issues. For example, las spring we conducted a project for Republic Services, the second largest company in the wast management sector. The project had some major environmental issues associatedwith it.
The best descriptor of sustainabiilty is "dynamic". Expectations, standards, regulation, innovation and awareness are all rapidly changing form day to day. This course creates a great deal of both uncertainty and opportunity: uncertainty about what is expected by regulators, consumers, and watchdog groups. Opportunity to innovate and develop or use new technologies, leverage new markets, and alter business processes for the better. Focus of class is on profitably increasing a firm's sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Environmental management, corporate social responsibility, greening, industrial ecology, stakeholder management, life-cycle management, pollution prevention, sustainable development, design for environment, green design, urban reinvestment, brownfield redevelopment, waste reduction, closed loops, resource productivity, sustainable technology, systems thinking, clean technology, eco-efficiency, eco-effectiveness, biomimicry, triple bottom line, inclusive capitalism, base of the pyramid, community capitalism, corporate citizenship, voluntary regulation, civic entrepreneurship, full cost accounting, cradle to cradle, restorative technology, diversity management, values-based leadership.
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